Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures

From October 7, 1914. Brooklyn Bridge showing painters on suspenders.

Hundreds of thousands of photos that offer snapshots of more than a century of New York City history are now publicly available online for the first time ever.

Together, they offer a close-up, gritty picture of the city's history and development, from detective photos of gruesome crime scenes to Depression-era shots of everyday life to the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Lincoln freed the slaves in Washington, D.C. on this date in 1862

Procrastinating taxpayers: wonder why you're getting a couple extra days to file your taxes this year?

April 15 fell on a Sunday this year, so you can thank a Christian for the first extra day, as politicians are so terrified of offending them, they've never liked to do government business on Sundays.

But if you want to know who to thank for Tax Day being tomorrow and not today, April 16, consider thanking Abraham Lincoln.

Or, more aptly, think of thanking one of the more than 3,000 slaves living in the District of Columbia 150 years ago in 1862.

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Today is day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States, one of the single individuals to do the most of anyone in advancing the cause of civil rights in our nation during the twentieth century.

It's worth remembering King's time in New York -- specifically two events, which both relate to our list of "The 100 Most Powerless New Yorkers," on the cover of this week's Voice -- in considering King's legacy on the nation and his impact on modern American politics, over four decades after his death.

The first is his (above) speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence," delivered at Riverside Church one year to the day prior to King's assassination in Memphis.

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For 37 years, Columbia University historian Ken Jackson has taught a session of his class, "The History of the City of New York," in an unforgettable fashion -- namely, on an all-night bike ride, which comes with the special added benefit of ensuring that none of the students fall asleep while being taught history. Columbia has released the video above of Jackson and some of his students talking about the ride, which starts at about 11 p.m. from Columbia and goes through Central Park, Times Square, Madison Square, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village, Battery Park, Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Brooklyn Heights, with a "history of New York City's people and places" taught during stops via megaphone.

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via Wikipedia

According to a new book of interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, the former First Lady said that her husband openly doubted Lyndon Johnson's ability to be president. The interviews, which were conducted by historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in the year following JFK's assassination, revealed "her husband even discussed ways to prevent Johnson from winning the Democratic nomination in a future contest."

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The U.S. Postal Service has recently gotten into Facebook and social media and stuff, in an effort to "reach broader, more diverse audiences," and also, perhaps, because they are kind of broke, and now they're releasing an array of new stamps, previewable by those means. One of these new Earthscapes stamps should be of particular interest to New Yorkers because, instead of representing glaciers and icebergs and volcanic craters and cranberry harvests (not that those things aren't awesome), it is of skyscraper apartments, the very sort of thing some of us live in.

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This is a TV appearance from 1956, by a 96-year-old man named Samuel Seymour:

As a five-year-old boy, he saw John Wilkes Booth shoot Abraham Lincoln. Which happened in 1865.

[Kottke]

[@_rosiegray]

On June 17, 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in the New York Harbor. It was a gift from the people of France, designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. Because she is 151-feet tall, Lady Liberty was shipped to the United States in more than 200 pieces. Assembly was completed on October 18, 1886 at a dedication by President Grover Cleveland. When Ellis Island opened in 1892, the statue became a symbol of hope for many newly arrived immigrants. Below the fold, we've put together some suggestions for how to celebrate this historic day.

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​Remember how Sarah Palin has absolutely no idea what that Paul Revere guy did back in the Civil War or whatever? He didn't shoot guns or ring bells, contrary to Palin's opinion. But she's sticking to her guns. Palin appeared on Fox News this morning to defend her historical accuracy, saying "I didn't mess up about Paul Revere." More >>

The fate of 35 Cooper Square has seemed a done deal for a while now, and earlier today we got word from EV Grieve that crews might be on the scene tearing down the building. We investigated and found a couple of workmen on the roof, as well as a Caterpillar parked outside, along with a lot of building debris. According to the Department of Buildings, the permit to demolish was issued on May 6 (EV Grieve has a photo of that permit here). So far, the scene is relatively calm, but we'll keep an eye out. In any case, this seem to mark the sad, ultimate end for one of the remaining historic buildings on the Bowery. Photos after the jump.

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